Sairaj Bahutule, the spin bowling coach of Rajasthan Royals (RR), admitted the side could have finished their chase of 181 runs against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) earlier and found their two-run loss from a winning position as hard to take. At the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, RR were perfectly poised to win as they needed 25 runs off 18 balls. But LSG pacer Avesh Khan took three wickets in his last two overs, and defended nine runs off the final over to give his team a memorable win, leaving RR in despair.
It was also the second straight time RR failed to make nine runs in the final over, after being unable to do so against Delhi Capitals (DC) and eventually losing the match via Super Over at the Arun Jaitley Stadium earlier this week.
“To be honest, we’ve been playing good cricket. It’s just that the result has not gone away. In the dugout, there’s a lot of calmness with Rahul (Dravid, head coach) being there. Everybody has played enough cricket in that dugout to know that one should not panic and take it as it comes.
“But unfortunately, losing by two runs this game and the previous game with the super over, yes, it’s been hard, but that’s the way the game goes. T20 is a format where a lot of risk is involved. You make a lot of mistakes and our effort is to minimise those mistakes.
“I think when we had a partnership going, we could have finished it a couple of overs itself. But Avesh bowled that good over again. So, we could have finished it. But again, we are absolutely calm, composed about it and we just look forward for the next game,” said Bahutule in the post-match press conference.
RR were also hurt by the fact that pacer Sandeep Sharma conceded four sixes to Abdul Samad in the 27-run last over of LSG’s innings. Sandeep had earlier failed to defend 12 runs in the Super Over against DC. But Bahutule said the expensive final over from Sandeep is something which can happen in any game.
“That doesn’t mean I can take anything away from him because he’s a fabulous bowler. He’s always bowled those important and tough overs. Definitely, we would’ve had 20 runs less, maybe 10-15 runs lesser to chase. But (still) I think we were set to chase that target. Don’t think any team wins or loses because of a player.
“I’ll be honest with you, it is a team game. In the previous match too, he gave two overs with very less runs – 5 and 7 runs. So generally, we forget those important overs and we keep emphasising on overs which he has not bowled well. But I think for us, he is a 100% giver. The team backs him, everybody backs him.
“It’s not easy to go there and perform day in and day out with the same intensity. But I just feel, I think we are a unit. Things are not going our way, the results are not going our way. But I feel it’s a young side and I’m sure everybody is hurting and they will learn from their mistakes. You were in a commanding position in both the matches, still you were on the losing side,” he elaborated.
Bahutule signed off by quashing rumours of rift in the team think-tank RR suffering four consecutive defeats in IPL 2025. “The clarity with us, with the support staff and the players and in the dressing room is absolutely the best I’ve seen. Rahul is very clear about whatever the plans are, the game plans are.
“It’s just that on that particular day, the execution from players didn’t happen and it was just in that last over, things didn’t go our way. Most of the time, we were in the game and we were playing good cricket. So, I just feel that we just didn’t get over that finishing line. I think they will assess the situation and will let us know,’ he said.
RR, now at eighth place in the points table, will be next seen in action when they face Rajat Patidar-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
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